DPM directs prompt assistance for victims of Morocco boat tragedy

Dar instructed Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Interior to ensure swift, efficient assistance for Pakistani victims

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Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, has directed the government to provide prompt assistance to the victims of a recent boat tragedy off the coast of Morocco, where more than 40 Pakistani nationals are feared to have drowned while attempting to reach Europe.

On Thursday, Pakistan’s foreign office confirmed that a migrant boat with 80 passengers, including several Pakistanis, capsized near Morocco while en route to Spain.

The boat had departed Mauritania on January 2, carrying 86 migrants, including 66 Pakistanis, according to the rights group Walking Borders. Moroccan authorities rescued 36 people on Wednesday.

The boat was heading towards Spain’s Canary Islands when it tragically capsized. The CEO of Walking Borders, Helena Maleno, stated that 44 of the 50 presumed dead were from Pakistan.

The incident has once again drawn attention to the dangerous journeys undertaken by migrants from conflict-ridden and economically unstable regions in search of a better life in Europe.

During a meeting in Islamabad, Dar instructed the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Interior to ensure swift and efficient assistance for the Pakistani victims. Media reports indicate that most of the Pakistani nationals aboard the vessel hailed from cities in eastern Punjab.

In response to the growing threat of human trafficking, the government has ramped up its efforts against smugglers facilitating these perilous journeys to Europe, with several arrests already made.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called for increased international cooperation to combat human trafficking networks and ordered the Federal Investigation Agency to compile a detailed report on migration-related incidents from the past year.

Shehbaz Sharif also called for the implementation of an Integrated Border Management System (IBMS) to monitor and prevent illegal movement.

This tragic event follows another deadly boat disaster in 2023, when hundreds of migrants, including 262 Pakistanis, drowned after an overcrowded vessel sank off the coast of Greece in one of the deadliest incidents recorded in the Mediterranean Sea.

The boat tragedy near Morocco highlights the ongoing risks faced by migrants from Pakistan and other countries, driven by economic instability and conflict back home.